Tale Of 3 Toilets

I can attest that not all toilets are created equal. There have been three distinctly diverse toilet systems in my life. This little story is mainly about my different middle toilet. The first toilet was kind of boring and my last toilet is really spectacular.

When I met my husband, green was just a color. He lived in a house named, thumb“The Ecology House”. The idea of building a sustainable home was so forward-thinking at the time, that the house was highlighted in the book, 30 Energy-Efficient Houses, by Alex Wade. It was designed and built by a local man as an experiment. We called the house the A-Frame.

Living in the A-Frame was like living in a park full-time. My husband, his cat and I lived in this special house in the pre-kids years. We swam in the roaring creek that gushed over rocks just footsteps from our back door. We peered out the windows at the mountains, and hiked trails that zigzagged through the woods. The attributes that embraced the land surrounding the A-Frame were breathtaking.

There were a number of innovative energy-efficient properties that made the A-Frame a truly groundbreaking example of a green home. The passive solar house was built entirely on bedrock. No septic and no basement. This house was magnificent in its smallness and simplicity.

The toilet in the A-Frame was something I had never encountered. It was called the Clivus Multrum Composting Toilet System. It wasn’t one of those “hold your nose and go as fast as you can” toilets that you might find in an outhouse or porta-toilet. It worked very simply once you got used to not flushing. The one thing we stressed to everyone that visited our bathroom was that you had to leave the seat closed for it to do its composting magic.

“Composting is the breakdown of organic matter in the presence of aerobic organisms. This is the same process that happens wherever organic matter is exposed to oxygen and moisture: In forests, garden compost piles, lawns, etc. The composting toilet system allows human waste to break down into simple, stable compounds that have value as plant nutrients.”

These toilets have so many components of green living. They are low maintenance, conserve water and convert waste to reusable fertilizer. Most importantly, they have no odor and the air stays clean and fresh. Our Clivus, which we affectionately called it, was upstairs in a second story bathroom. Its tank was discreetly hidden downstairs behind the kitchen wall where the fertilizer was produced.

We lived harmoniously with our Clivus, until the day that we brought a new puppy into our home. In our excitement over our cuddly new family member, we had forgotten about the cat. We couldn’t find him. Frantically, we searched and found the cat perched over the Clivus with the concentration of an Olympic diver going for gold. He was so petrified of the dog that he was about to take the plunge. Someone had forgotten to close the seat!

We moved from the A-Frame to accommodate our growing family, and for many years had traditional water and energy zapping toilet systems

After the greening renovation of our bathrooms, my third toilet system was installed. I can attest that our dual-flush toilet is a true beauty. It meets our family’s needs, it appeals to my design sense, and makes the environmental nod our planet appreciates with a water savings of 67%. Did I mention there is also no possibility of losing a beloved pet?

Photo: Ted Fink

Super Natural Eggs

If you haven’t already done so, discount it’s time to get cracking on creating smashing Easter eggs. For the holiday this year, seek I wrote 3 Unusual Natural Easter Egg Projects. These Super Natural Dyed Eggs from Curbly are my favorite. Grab a few free-range eggs, site vinegar and spices, and follow this video tutorial:

Credit: Curbly

Earth Day 2011

Hey, order there – Happy Earth Day! Since its inception in 1970, pilule Earth Day has raised awareness to the fragile state of our planet. As a global holiday for over 40 years, malady celebrating Earth Day has become a staple in our minds and hearts. It galvanizes us to stop and think about how we can preserve, protect and preserve in our common goals for the future.

Don’t let anyone tell you that reduce, reuse and recycle, green, eco-friendly and sustainable are meaningless cliches. Yes, they get overused and their definitions can get watered down and greenwashed. But, that’s no reason to throw in the towel. It just means we need to continue to answer the hard questions creatively, and collectively about climate, our health, and the environment.

What I find so remarkable about our common struggle is how we all approach this goal through the eyes of our rich and diverse cultures. Actions come in all shades of green, and once we become infused with knowledge, learn a few tools, and make some changes, we can look into our unique lives and view the future through a new lens. Think of it as the eco-filter that keeps our planet smiling.

Last year, I put together a popular comprehensive ABC guide for Care2, with ideas and tips – some you no doubt have heard about before, and others that may have never even entered through your eco-filter. These simple tips are not rocket science, but collectively they can become the springboard for important discussions and actions about the future of our planet.

OK, pep talk over - Let’s start reciting…

A is for Adjust Your Thermostat B is for Both Sides of the Paper are Usable C is for Cruise Control: To Save You Gas D is for Diaper With a Conscience E is for Eat Organic F is for Fly With an E-Ticket G is for Go Vegetarian Once a Week H is for Hang Dry I is for Invest in Your Own Coffee Cup J is for Junk Mail – Cut it Out of Your Life K is for Keep Your Fireplace Damper Closed L is for Local: The Way To Go M is for Make a Bag And Use It N is for Newspapers – Recycle and Consider Alternatives O is for Old Cell Phones Need a New Life P is for Plastic Bottles Q is for Q-Tips R is for Recycle Glass S is for Shower Instead of Baths T is for Turn Off Computers at Night U is for Use Fewer Paper Napkins V is for Vacations W is for Wash in Cold Water X is for X Out Your Phone Book Y is for Your Enemy is Greenwashing Z is for Zipcars Can Replace Your Car

Credit: NASA

Not A Scientist…

I am not a scientist. I am not a politician. I am a mom. I am a teacher. I am a writer. I am an environmentalist. I want to protect my family. I care about the planet. When I became increasingly concerned about the food my family eats, the oceans we swim in, the cars we drive and the air we breathe, it became a personal choice to share and engage my readers in a dialogue about creating a lifestyle that supports our environment.

Joining the Moms Clean Air Force has opened up my eyes wider to the issue of clean air. But, just because I consider something vastly important, doesn’t mean I expect you to jump on the bandwagon. I wish you would, but I know creating clean air is not like selling a basket of locally-grown organic vegetables. People get that. They know those fresh goodies will nourish their bodies. They understand how being a locavore will nourish their souls. The message of saving the Clean Air Act is a complex and seemingly abstract problem with scientific theories, historical data, cost analysis and politics.

Just like we need to nourish our bodies and souls with good, clean food and create vibrant communities by shopping local, we need clean air to secure our health.

So let me repeat: I am not a scientist. I knew the Clean Air Act, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the States, has saved thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of cases of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. But, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to reading about babies dying and cancer rates. My biggest fear about joining the Moms Clean Air Force was that I would have to sort through stacks and stacks of reports, regulations, cost anaylsis and really nasty health studies that would leave me glazed over and paralyzed with fear. Although I am a teacher, I am a visual learner like my right-sided brain kids. Scientific technical reading rarely engages my interest for too long.

The exact opposite happened. I do believe informed decisions come from knowledge. I found a nifty tool from the Union of Concerned Scientists that helps embrace the stats. This "ticker" "shows the increase in cumulative net benefits as a result of the Clean Air Act since 1970. The source data for this calculation comes from two EPA reports."

It is scary to imagine that the Clean Air Act is under constant threat. Whether you are a scientist or not, there is one thing we all need to understand - clean air is something we have controlled and lessened...and we all have the power to be part of the solution to continue to preserve clean air.

A Lesson We Can Learn From The Lorax (Again)

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss has been the go-to environmental book for kids since it's publication in 1971. With Earth Day just around the corner, The Lorax will be read in schools and homes throughout the U.S. this month.

Let's refresh the events of this cautionary tale: The Once-ler devised devious ways of cutting down Truffula trees for the "biggering and biggering" of his manufacturing operation. The smogulous smoke that spewed into the air from his Thneed factory made the Lorax "cough, whiff, sneeze, snuffle, snarggle, sniffle, and croak." The beautiful Swomee swans were no longer able to sing, so the Lorax sends the birds away to find cleaner air. The Once-ler "biggered" to the point where he poisoned the Lorax's eco-lovin’ life with polluted water, polluted air, and left him in a sunless panorama of Truffula stumps. Poor Lorax.

Where We Were Before the Clean Air Act, when air pollution plagued the world, the ramifications of acid rain and smog were a blip on the radar of most folks. When awareness kicked in, and the ecological science began to mount, it became a priority to legislate for clean air. At the time, environmentalism was mostly a non-partisan issue, paving the way for the Clean Air Act.

Where We Are The EPA statistics indicate that since the Clean Air Act, the US has decreased toxic fume emissions by 109 million tons, which has reduced pollution and improved the air quality 48 per cent. This week the Senate voted down several pro-pollution amendments that would have decimated the Clean Air Act and kept the EPA from protecting the quality of our air and water. This is great news!

UNLESS… Do you know there is a pro-polluter lobby? It is unfathomable to me that such a thing exists. Didn’t everyone grow up heeding the Lorax's message that we are all interconnected, and collectively we need to take responsibility for the health of our planet and its inhabitants?

The Moms Clean Air Force is not willing to hand over a world to our kids like the one the Lorax left behind. We can't forget the importance of reorienting environmental values away from pure economic and political points of view, and towards common sense science. We can not relent, because the Once-ler-type bully polluters are figuring out ways of "biggering" and continuing to blow their smogulous smoke at our kids.